Migrating to the Solaris Operating System: The Discipline of UNIX-to-UNIX Migrations by Ken Pepple, David Levy, Brian Down

From the Publisher

• Increase efficiency with new technologies and processes
• Improve the performance and availability of your IT solutions
• Reduce IT total cost of ownership

This book presents an established methodology for transitioning the people, processes, and technologies in IT environments to the Solaris(TM) Operating System. It steps you through the various phases of the migration process, using detailed case studies to illustrate the benefits, costs, and requirements associated with a migration project. While this book focuses on UNIX server migrations, the methodology and best practices presented apply for most migrations to the Solaris environment. They can be used for projects ranging from the smallest data conversion to the largest legacy migration.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

Preface

This book is designed to help customers and Sun staff strategically transition the people, processes, and technologies in IT environments to the Solaris(TM) Operating System (Solaris OS). By explaining how you can use Sun's migration methodology to realize the benefits that can result from a migration effort, we hope to minimize or eliminate the reluctance many people have to undertaking UNIX(R) migration projects. While we focus on UNIX server migrations, much of the methodology and many of the best practices presented in this book apply to any migration to the Solaris environment.

Using the methodology presented in this book, you should be able to tackle projects ranging from the smallest data conversion to the largest legacy migration project with a repeatable and systematic approach that ensures predictability and success. Along the way, we provide guidance to help you avoid some of the pitfalls that are common to migration projects. The methodology and best practices include:

• Assessing the current environment to migrate
• Planning for a migration project
• Architecting a new target environment
• Implementing a migration by using available tools and processes
• Managing the newly migrated environment

To illustrate the benefits, costs, and requirements of a migration project, we provide the following detailed case studies:

• A small software development company, migrating from Linux to the Solaris environment
• A simple, custom-written application that uses a Sybase database, migrating to the Solaris environment and an Oracle database
• A ledger solution from thindustry, migrating from the HP/UX platform to the Solaris environment

How This Guide is Organized

This guide is organized in the following chapters:

Chapter 1 presents a brief overview of the historical events that created an environment in which migration was necessary. This chapter describes some of the most common goals, motivators, benefits, and problems of any migration project.

Chapter 2 explains how UNIX has evolved over the years and describes the major differences between versions of UNIX, while placing other operating systems in context. This chapter also explains why migration is important, what its benefits are, and what the scope of a migration project is.

Chapter 3 defines the most important terms used in migration efforts and differentiates these terms. In addition, this chapter presents migration strategies, explains the benefits and risks of each strategy, and describes the appropriateness of each strategy for various situations.

Chapter 4 presents a detailed implementation of the migration methodology and explains how to plan for important project activities and milestones. This chapter also describes the tasks involved in establishing a business justification for a migration effort.

Chapter 5 introduces Sun's high-level migration methodologies and reviews the roles of the architecture, implementation, and management stages involved in the methodology.

Chapter 6 explores the tasks involved in architecting a migration solution.

Chapter 7 describes the steps involved in migrating the current environment to the target environment.

Chapter 8 explains how management tasks relate to the Enterprise stack (E-stack). This chapter also presents considerations and tools used for managing migrations to a Solaris environment.

Chapter 9 presents an example of the process involved in migrating from the Linux environment to the Solaris environment.

Chapter 10 presents a case study that illustrates the methods, tools, and best practices used to migrate a Tru64 environment to the Solaris environment.

Chapter 11 presents a case study that illustrates the methodology, tools, and best practices used to migrate customers from HP/UX platforms.

Appendix A presents a sample JScore report and analysis as referenced in Chapter 7.